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Monday Meta: A Little More Focus

I’ve decided to pick some themes and set up something of a “daily column” for the blog.

Mondays? Filling in the Blogging and Communication Gaps.

I gotta send thanks out to any of you who have been hanging on during these moments of Skepdad confusion and transition. The whole idea of the Skepdad Blog has been to explore some issues around (a) skepticism, (b) skeptical parenting, and (c) grasping onto an understanding of what do with this little version of me who is growing up in a culture and community rife with superstition and pseudoscientific messages. My objective is and was to do a lot of thinking and writing on the topic — non-expert that I am — and hopefully cobble together a better understanding of the issues. I aimed for that goal for a number of months then came to the frustrating conclusion that I was aiming at a goal that was beyond the scope of either me or a blog like this. I’ll leave you to figure that out.

So I’ve been soul-searching. And dabbling in the writing part in a sadly sporadic fashion. And judging by the stats, yes a few of you have kept clicking back to see if I’ve sorted things out.

Well, as it stands, I’ve decided to structure this blog a little more thematically and a little less formally. Rather than hop-skipping-and-jumping about the skeptical parenting landscape, I’ve decided to pick some themes and set up something of a “daily column” for the blog. Hopefully that means more content, more focus, and more interesting information for you to read.

If you’re reading this, you’ve likely got an idea of the Sunday and Monday columns, but my planned scope is going to follow something of the list below:

Sunday Reading - I always seem to be reading something. It might be research. It might be an article. It might be a story book to the kid. Whatever it happens to be, Sundays will be my space to file a book report and question the influence of the text on parents and kids.

Monday Meta - Like this particular post, when I write on Mondays it will be pertaining directly to the blog, or about the little skeptical community I’ve been casually building through Facebook and other venues. And by the way, if you haven’t stopped by our group yet, check it out.

Tuesday Media Watch - Beware… my pet peeves lurk here. I’ll try to avoid the soapbox and strive for a skeptical analysis of our “entertainment culture” and it’s effect on raising critically thinking kids. But TV, et cetera, beware!

Wednesday Wild Card - Anything goes. One cannot build a theme site without having a wild card to play on occasion. Who can say?

Thursday Thinkers - Some of the more popular posts I’ve written over the life of this blog are the “tools for young thinkers” posts where I talk about optical illusions, science fairs, or that kind of thing. By the time Thursday rolls around I’ve usually gathered enough of my senses to cobble together some interactive parenting tools for budding critical thinkers.

Friday Consumer Culture - The one topic I’ve always thought is important in a skeptical blog, particularly for parents is that of consumer watchdog. I don’t have many resources to fight the injustices of the economic forces ramming so-called educational baby products down our throats, but you’d be surprised how many folks click through here looking for reviews of this junk before they spend their hard earned money.

Saturday Skeptics - Here I get to write on skepticism. I’ve flooded my free time reading and listening to the skeptical subculture, and I’ll do my best to write about and interpret that from a parenting perspective. Admittedly, I’m on the fringes. But I’m working my way inward.

Ultimately, of course, the goal is to write lots. Lots. Everyday? I’m a realistic guy so don’t count on that. But tune it often and let me know how I’m doing. Comment. Email. Link back. I like that. Because we all know that’s the real reward.

The skep/dad blog is meant to casually reflect on questions surrounding parenting and raising kids to become critical thinkers by asking questions and examining parenting ideas with a skeptical eye for facts and science. Each article is one dad's personal opinion, backed where relevant by literature and published research. skep/dad welcomes balanced discussion, comments, and ideas.

April 28, 2008 by Brad
Filed as: Meta-Skepdad

Popularity: 16%

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